Houston’s Cam Akers is unsure what will happen in the next few days as final roster cuts are made.
However, the veteran running back feels he has made a strong case to stay on the team.
“I feel good,” he said. “I feel like I showed people I’m still who I am. I haven’t lost a step and we’ll just see how it goes.”
Tim Boyle threw for 142 yards and two touchdowns, while Akers rushed for 53 yards, leading the Texans to a 17-15 win over the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday in the preseason finale for both teams.
Akers, a former Ram, also added 19 yards receiving. He had a career-high 786 rushing yards with seven touchdowns for the Rams in 2022. He is currently listed as fifth on the depth chart, with Joe Mixon and Dameon Pierce having secured their roster spots.
Akers made a notable play on Saturday when he powered into Jason Taylor II and knocked the safety down at the end of a 23-yard run late in the first quarter.
“That’s just big boy football,” he said. “Me going out and making a play. (It’s) JV (vs.) varsity. I’m varsity.”
The Texans were leading 10-9 when Boyle threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Johnny Johnson III on the second play of the fourth quarter, making the score 17-9.
Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud and Rams QB Matthew Stafford did not play, as most starters from both teams sat out.
Houston third-string quarterback Case Keenum started with Stroud and backup Davis Mills not playing. He led the offense on Houston’s first two possessions before Boyle took over.
Dresser Winn played the entire game for the Rams and was 9 of 16 for 72 yards. Zach Evans ran for 45 yards and two touchdowns for Los Angeles.
“He ran hard, leveled off some of those runs,” coach Sean McVay said. “I thought we were able to get pretty good removal on some of those drives. He was able to press it outside in one gap at a time, and he ended up doing a nice job as a slash runner today.”
Evans’ 3-yard run with about three minutes left in the game cut the lead to 17-15. However, he was stopped short on the 2-point conversion attempt.
The game was tied 3-3 after both teams made field goals in the first quarter. The Texans went ahead 10-3 when Boyle threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Troy Hairston early in the second quarter.
Los Angeles closed the gap to 10-9 when Evans scored on a 4-yard run about seven minutes before halftime. Rookie Joshua Karty’s extra point attempt missed after hitting the upright.
Stafford and backup Jimmy Garoppolo did not play in the preseason. Stafford, who has recently missed practice with a tight hamstring and has a cut on his left thumb, played a lot in a joint practice on Thursday with these teams.
Third-stringer Stetson Bennett did not play on Saturday after getting all the QB snaps in the first two preseason games. McVay said Bennett will be Stafford’s backup for the first two regular-season games, as Garoppolo is suspended for those games due to a violation of the NFL’s performance-enhancing drugs policy.
“He’s done really well in some of the practice settings,” McVay said of Bennett. “When you do look at it, you’re obviously very fortunate to have Jimmy who will be coming back in Week 3, but he’s done enough that we feel good about him for the first couple of weeks.”
Xavier Hutchinson, who is competing for one of Houston’s last receiver spots, led the team with four catches for 34 yards.
“I came in and I had a lot of confidence in myself and I feel like I had a lot of confidence from the players on our team who had just seen me put in work,” he said. “So it was kind of easy just to believe in myself and really just try to transition into just showing it in a preseason game.”
